Hero
by Zinti
Summary: After defeating Mizuki, Naruto has a different reaction. Inspired by Axenome's Rogue Fox. Dark and realistic ninja combat. No pairings yet. Massively AU.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto.

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**DESTROY IT. OPEN THE GATE. FREE ME.**

Naruto was drowning. The trickle of water that had been here when he was still high over defeating Mizuki and being on edge from deceiving Iruka-sensei with a kage bunshin had kept his mind from the truth, but now there was no escaping it. The water had flooded to the ceiling and every breath he took was an icy flood slamming into his chest. He was floating right in front of the seal.

"I didn't deserve it. There was nothing I could have done, I didn't deserve it. Their anger. Their hatred." Naruto whispered.

**It wasn't your fault that they treated you like dirt. It had nothing to do with you, but they spit on you regardless. They hated you with no reason, but for your helplessness and because of their own pettiness. If you open this gate, I can get you revenge for all of it. As you are you cannot take them, but if you rip off that seal I can do it for you. I can show them that it was a mistake to have scorned Naruto Uzumaki! NOW RELEASE ME!**

"…A mistake?" Naruto started to sink as water drained away. He kept his hand on the seal so it followed him down, still attached to the gate.

Naruto looked Kyuubi in the eye. "This will kill me, won't it?"

**Probably.**

Naruto breathed deep.

"Then I will free you on one condition."

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A/N - The inspiration for this just hit me so I decided to make an account and post this prologue as soon as I wrote it. I will be writing daily for this, how much gets done? We'll see.

Also! I am not Japanese. I do not speak Japanese. I will be using Japanese terminology, which means I will screw up. I have a general idea of honorifics, but if I make a mistake feel free to tell me.


	2. Eruption

"Then I will free you on one condition." The Kyuubi stilled, one giant eye pressed against the cage.

**Name your price.**

"My entire life," Naruto began, fists clenched. "I have been considered a monster for something I haven't done. If I release you and you kill them all, they won't think 'we shouldn't have scorned Naruto Uzumaki', they'll think 'Why didn't we kill the Kyuubi brat when we had the chance'... I don't want that! I want them to remember my name. I want them to remember me! I want you to leave Konoha alone, and I want them to know that it was because of me!?

**That's two conditions, brat. The telling and the leaving.**

"Fine then. I have two conditions." He spat out. "There's no way for me to know if you'll honor them, but please, please! Honor your freedom by redeeming my life!"

There was a moment of silence as they stared each other down. One stared on desperately, and the other in quiet contemplation.

**Very well, I agree to your terms. If you release me I will avoid conflict with Konoha, and tell them you are the reason why.**

Naruto nodded as he gripped the seal tightly. "Then Kyuubi, I willingly give my life for your freedom!" And with a mighty heave through gritted teeth, the seal was torn away.

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"I am proud of you, Naruto. It's no mean feat to defeat a chunin, no matter how surprised or injured by his previous fight. I will register your promotion myself to ensure it's done by tonight, and then you will have the full week to fill out your registration and report to team selection." The Sandaime Hokage looked onto his favorite new ninja benevolently, as the boy rubbed his head and smiled sheepishly. ANBU had been shadowing them all night, but it was so much tidier for Naruto to have succeeded. _Plans were sometimes so convenient_, as he thought of all the maneuvering he'd been doing lately, _when they come together flawlessly_.

"Thanks Jiji," He began softly before a pillar of Kyuubi's chakra exploding in the distance interrupted him.

_What?! _After a split second Sarutobi snapped his gaze to Naruto, and let thin feathers of his chakra spill out, decades of practice deftly tugging them into the clone and back out again. _Kage Bunshin_ He realized.

Grabbing the clone he shouted, "Naruto! Where is the real you, what were you doing?"

"I just… He just wanted some time alone to think! I…I was supposed to be him until he got back to his apartment so I could tell him everything that had happened and no one would ever know." The clone stammered out and Sarutobi dropped him. The third Hokage's grim expression locked onto his face the instant the Kyuubi's chakra hit the atmosphere. As he conducted emergency functions and directed various flurries of desperate activity, he thought mournfully. _Oh child, I don't know if I can protect you from this. Be safe at least. Be alright._

In the distance, the towering pillar of malevolent red chakra continued to pour.

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"I'm alive?" Naruto looked around. He had woken up propped against a towering stone monument. It was bright out, in this forest clearing, so it took him a moment to make out the man standing in front of him.

"Guess I'm dead." He asked the Yondaime Hokage. "I didn't expect the first thing I'd see would be you."

"You're not dead," The man's sad expression turned a wan smile as he spoke softly. "Just another part of your mind."

"Oh?" Naruto thought for a moment silently, before he cocked his head, frowning. "So I'm alive, and I had not only the most colossal monster ever to have existed in my head, but the greatest... hero Konoha ever had in here, too? Anything else? Now that the Kyuubi's released, are you free, too?"

"No, Minato Namikaze is dead. Before he went, he used all the remaining chakra in his body to create me, so that I could help you as best as he could." The Hokage clone rubbed his head ruefully. "I was the last line of defense against the Kyuubi as well, should he breach the seal or attempt to take you over."

There was a pause while Naruto processed this, and Minato marshaled his thoughts.

"I'm sorry. For what it's worth, I am sorry, though I don't expect forgiveness. But know this; As long as I exist, I will give you all the aid I can. You aren't ready for my Hiraishin, but I won't last until you are, so I will give you the keys to figure it out when you are ready. Until my chakra runs out, you have a Kage at your disposal."

Naruto was dumbfounded. "Why?"

Minato reached out and gently stroked the side of his face. "Because you are my son. Because you deserve _everything_ I can give you. You are the most important thing in my life."

Naruto woke up.

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…**grateful to him, you putrescent flea heaps. Naruto Uzumaki has saved all of your lives.**

Kyuubi looked down at Naruto and snorted.

**Until we meet again, brat.**

The giant demon fox took a small hop over Konoha's wall, and continued on into the horizon, appearing to run past the newly rising sun. As ninja started entering the clearing left in the Kyuubi's wake, Naruto abruptly realized that somewhere along the way his clothes burned off. He had never been more grateful than when some jonin took off his shirt and threw it at him.

He had managed to squeak out a "thanks," and threw on the knee length garment before he was abruptly picked up bridle style, and carried rapidly to the Hokage. The jonin, after dumping him in front of the village leader and telling him he was welcome with a laugh, left rapidly to get back to work.

Sighing forlornly, Sarutobi beckoned Naruto, and turned to head back into the village proper.

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A/N Two chapters the first day my fic is up ^^. Not particularly happy with the pacing though, and my scene lengths are abysmally short. I'll probably keep writing like this until I hit a major plot point, and then I will take that section and flesh everything out. I just want to be producing something right now, anything really. I guess that means I'm posting a second draft, really. Ah well, hopefully you like it, and as I improve it, hopefully you'll like it more.


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